NEW DELHI: Congress MP Imran Masood on Tuesday said that Priyanka Gandhi will “deliver a decisive treatment” to Bangladesh if she becomes the Prime Minister.Refuting the charges from the BJP targeting Priyanka Gandhi for allegedly not speaking out strongly enough against violence against minorities in Bangladesh, Masood said that Wayanad MP spoke out the strongly the last time Bangladesh was becoming a central issue.“Priyanka Gandhi had raised her voice foremost last time when violence took place in Bangladesh. Make Priyanka Gandhi the Prime Minister first, and then see how she responds, just like Indira Gandhi,” Masood said.“Just like Indira Gandhi broke Pakistan into two places, Priyanka Gandhi will deliver a decisive treatment to the country (Bangladesh) so that it would not be able to become a hub of anti-India narratives,” he added.When asked what will Rahul Gandhi do if Priyanka becomes PM, Masood said,” Rahul Gandhi will act too—they are not separate. Rahul and Priyanka are like two eyes on the same face, the grandchildren of Indira Gandhi. Don’t look at them separately—they are two eyes, one vision”.Amid the ongoing protests in Dhaka, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra urged the Centre to take cognisance of the increasing violence against Hindu, Christian, and Buddhist minorities after the murder of Hindu youth Deepu Chandra Das in Bangladesh.The protests came in the backdrop of a mob lynching of the Hindu youth, Dipu Chandra Das, a worker in a garment factory, in Bangladesh’s Mymensingh district.According to reports, Dipu Das, who was beaten to death by a mob over alleged blasphemy charges, had his body hanged and set on fire on December 18.The Daily Star, citing Mymensingh’s Additional Superintendent of Police, Abdullah Al Mamun, stated that a factory official had informed Bhaluka police that a group of workers attacked Dipu inside the factory, accusing him of making communal remarks.Factory sources told The Daily Star that the assailants later took Dipu out of the factory premises, where residents also joined the attack, resulting in his death.However, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB)-14 Company Commander in Mymensingh, Md Samsuzzaman, told The Daily Star that investigators found no evidence suggesting the deceased had posted or written anything on Facebook that could have hurt religious sentiments, adding that neither residents nor fellow garment factory workers could point to any such activity by the victim.The victim’s brother, Apu Chandra Das, also filed a case at Bhaluka Police Station on Friday, naming 140 to 150 unidentified individuals as accused. The incident sparked widespread outrage and condemnation among political leaders, religious organisations and minority groups in Bangladesh and India.

NEW DELHI: All India Imam Association president Maulana Sajid Rashidi on Monday criticised RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s remarks on India being a Hindu Rashtra, saying the idea went against the Constitution and the country’s democratic character. Responding to Bhagwat’s statement that India is a Hindu Rashtra and that the Constitution’s preamble reflects this., Rashidi said, “…He does not know that a Hindu rashtra can only be a slogan. Those who are singing the praises of the Hindu nation want to crush the constitution. India is not of one religion but of 140 crore residents. If there is a Hindu kingdom, then the constitution of India will die. We see that all the Islamic countries, where the principles of the Quran are followed, are not democratic countries. It has become a religious country..”Reacting to Bhagwat’s view that the culture of the majority should be respected and not opposed, Rashidi questioned how can Hindus who are in majority be threatened terming the assertion “laughable.” “In Dubai there are 8 per cent Hindu, 5 per cent Hindu in Oman, 15 per cent in Saudi Arabia they are all safe. Here you’ve 80 per cent Hindus; majority and they are not safe? It is laughable, and you’re saying that in a country where from PM to peon is a Hindu. All the judges are Hindu, IAS, IPS are Hindu and still the 80 per cent Hindus are in danger,” he added. He alleged that fanning insecurity among the majority community was politically motivated and purely oriented for vote bank politics. “Telling Hindus that they are in danger is just the politics of the vote bank, it has nothing to do with the constitution,” he said, adding, “I believe that RSS is a big organisation. Its leaders should talk very thoughtfully. The contradictions in his remarks are glaring,” he said. Rashidi further also referred to Bhagwat’s earlier comments acknowledging the historical and continuing presence of Muslims in India, and then contradicting them saying, he is the chief of a big organisation like RSS he should make comments after thorough thinking. “On one hand he says there is no India without Muslims. Muslims were always there, are and will always be, then he says everybody living here is a Hindu, they don’t consider them Muslims ...”Warning of constitutional consequences, if India were to be a Hindu rastra he said, “The day this country becomes a Hindu rashtra, that day the constitution will be over, then Manusmriti will be implemented and then whatever is told in it will happen with Dalits and other religions …”Earlier on Sunday Mohan Bhagwat speaking at Kolkata Vyakhyanmala, a session to celebrate the centenary of RSS, said seeing RSS through the lens of BJP is a big mistake. He further added, “There are people who spread wrong narratives about the Sangh. Interpretation of the Sangh should be objective and not through secondary sources. The goal of the Sangh is organisation of the entire Hindu society, but it is not aimed at opposing others…If you see that Sangh is anti-Muslim, you can make (that) your opinion. But change your opinion if you don’t find that.”

RAIPUR: Chaitanya, son of former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, received Rs 200 crore to Rs 250 crore as his share from an alleged liquor scam in the state, the Anti-Corruption Bureau/Economic Offence Wing (ACB/EOW) has claimed in its chargesheet.The state police’s ACB/EOW, in its seventh supplementary chargesheet in the multi-crore liquor scam filed before a special court here on Monday, claimed Chaitanya Baghel played a key role in establishing, coordinating, and protecting an extortion racket (syndicate) within the excise department (during the previous Congress government, which was in office from 2018-23).The voluminous document, running into around 3,800 pages, has named Chaitnaya Baghel as an accused in the alleged scam pegged at more than Rs 3,000 crore, an ACB/EOW statement said.With this, a total of eight chargesheets have been filed in the case so far.The latest chargesheet details the current status of the investigation against the arrested accused, along with digital evidence reports about all those in custody. The document also outlines the progress of the ongoing probe against the accused persons.The statement quoting the chargesheet said Chaitanya Baghel acted as coordinator among officials such as Anil Tuteja, Soumya Chaurasia, Arunpati Tripathi, and Niranjan Das, who worked in line with the syndicate’s interests at the administrative level and as ground-level operatives of the network, such as Anwar Dhebar, Arvind Singh, and Vikas Agarwal (all co-accused), and issued instructions to them.Chaitanya Baghel worked through his trusted associates to transfer and manage proceeds of the scam collected by businessman Anwar Dhebar’s team, moving the funds to higher levels, it claimed.He allegedly received his share of the proceeds through various firms belonging to liquor businessman Trilok Singh Dhillon, transferring it through banking channels to his family firms and using it in real estate projects.Furthermore, he was also found to have received and invested large sums of money generated out of the scam through banking channels via his family members, friends, and associates, the chargesheet claimed.The probe agency said, “Evidence indicates that Chaitanya, along with managing the proceeds of the crime at a higher level, received around Rs 200 crore-Rs 250 crore as his share.” The investigation has also revealed that high-level protection, policy/administrative intervention, and influence provided to the syndicate by Chaitanya Baghel enabled this crime to be perpetrated for a long period, it claimed.“The ongoing investigation suggests the amount involved in the liquor scam is estimated to be approximately Rs 3,074 crore. However, further investigation suggests the total amount of the proceeds of crime generated out of the alleged scam could exceed Rs 3,500 crore,” it added.The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is probing the money laundering angle in the alleged scam, arrested Chaitanya Baghel on July 18 following a search at his house, which he shares with his father, a Congress politician, in Bhilai town of Durg district.As per the ED’s prosecution complaint (chargesheet) filed earlier, Chaitanya Baghel “handled” more than Rs 1,000 crore worth of “proceeds of crime” generated from a liquor “scam” in the state.The central agency has stated that the alleged scam resulted in a “massive loss” to the state exchequer and filled the pockets of beneficiaries of a liquor syndicate.The scam was orchestrated between 2019 and 2022 when then-CM Bhupesh Baghel headed the Congress government in Chhattisgarh.Money was “illegally” collected from “every” bottle of liquor sold in Chhattisgarh (between 2019 and 2022), said the anti-money laundering agency.Chaitanya Baghel was arrested by the ACB/EOW in September while he was in jail under judicial custody.The ED in January arrested former excise minister and Congress leader Kawasi Lakhma, businessman Anwar Dhebar (brother of Congress leader and former Raipur Mayor Aijaz Dhebar), former IAS officer Anil Tuteja, Indian Telecom Service (ITS) officer Arunpati Tripathi and a few others as part of their probe in the case.The EOW/ACB registered an FIR on January 17, 2024, in the alleged scam, naming 70 individuals and companies, including Lakhma and former chief secretary Vivek Dhand.After his son was arrested, former CM Baghel claimed that the action was taken because the Congress, during its rule, tried to stop the cutting of forests and mining activities in the state.The Congress leader also alleged that the probe agencies were being misused to target Opposition leaders. PTI

J-K Students Association writes to PM Modi, seeking safety of Indian medical students amid protests in Bangladesh

Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], December 23 (ANI): The Jammu and Kashmir Students Association (JKSA) on Monday wrote to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking urgent intervention to ensure the safety and well-being of Indian medical students currently studying in Bangladesh amid ongoing protests, tensions, and incidents of violence, particularly in Dhaka and surrounding regions.In the letter addressed to the Prime Minister, the Association urged him to intervene to ensure the safety and protection of Indian medical students in view of the prevailing unrest and uncertain conditions in Bangladesh.

National Convenor of the Association, Nasir Khuehami, said that there are around 9,000 Indian students pursuing medical education in various colleges across Bangladesh, among them over 4,000 students from the Kashmir Valley. Khuehami said, “We have been told by students studying in Dhaka that they have been advised to hide their identity for their own safety, which is deeply disturbing and unacceptable for young Indians who have gone abroad solely to pursue education.” He added that the reported “death and lynching of a student leader has further shocked and alarmed the entire student community and their families back home,” underlining the gravity of the situation and the potential risks faced by Indian students on the ground.Highlighting the plight of students, the Association said, “Many students are confined to hostels and accommodations, facing restrictions on movement, lack of clarity, and fear of being caught in violence. Parents in India are living in constant anxiety, unsure about the safety of their children. The prevailing conditions are unsafe and uncertain, and students feel vulnerable and stranded.”Khuehami said the Association has been receiving distress calls and messages from students and their families, who are extremely anxious about the rapidly deteriorating situation and the atmosphere of fear and uncertainty prevailing there.Urging immediate action, Khuehami said, “We urge the Prime Minister to kindly intervene to ensure the immediate safety and protection of Indian medical students in Bangladesh. We request the Ministry of External Affairs and the Indian High Commission in Dhaka to urgently take up this matter with the Government of Bangladesh and seek firm assurances for the security, dignity, and well-being of our students.”The Association also appealed for evacuation if the situation worsens, stating, “If the situation of tension and violence continues or worsens, the Government of India should kindly consider making arrangements to evacuate and bring back Indian students safely to India, so that no young life is put at risk. Timely evacuation, if required, will go a long way in preventing any untoward incident and in reassuring anxious families across the country.“Reposing faith in the leadership of the Prime Minister, the Association said, “India has always stood by its citizens abroad in times of crisis. We are confident that every possible step will be taken to protect our students and uphold India’s responsibility towards its youth. These students are future doctors who will serve the nation, and their safety must remain our highest priority.”

CHENNAI: A tiny needle system that sends cancer drugs directly into breast cancer cells, while protecting healthy ones, has been developed by researchers from IIT Madras and two Australian universities – Monash University and Deakin University. The nanotechnology injection delivery system packs the anticancer drug, doxorubicin, into special protective bubbles, then pushes it inside cells using needle-shaped silicon tubes on a chip.“It was a study on petri dishes,” said IIT-M assistant professor Dr Swathi Sudhakar, who works with the department of applied mechanics and biomedical engineering. “We could release the drug directly, but that would be faster delivery. So, for sustained release, it was wrapped in a bubble and pushed into it. Lab tests on breast cancer cells showed the drugs stopped cell growth, killed cancer cells, and blocked new blood vessels for tumours,” Dr Sudhakar said.Breast cancer is one of the most common types of cancer affecting women in both urban and rural areas. In cities such as Chennai, 28% of cancers in women are breast cancers, followed by cervix (14%), ovary (6%), and corpus uteri (4%). Conventional treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation often harm non-cancerous tissues due to systemic drug exposure, causing side effects.Results of the study published in the peer-reviewed journal Advanced Materials Interfaces show the new system worked 23 times better than the drug alone. “It had higher potential even when used in smaller amounts. There is thermal stability and long-term drug release, up to 700 hours, and it addresses common drawbacks of existing nanocarrier systems, such as burst release and poor compatibility,” she said.The technology, they said, is a reliable and scalable candidate for future trials.

CHANDIGARH: Punjab and Haryana high court has ruled that the authority vested in a criminal court to impose the condition of ‘deposit of passport’ ought not to be exercised in a “rote or automatic manner”, and such bail conditions must not unduly curtail personal liberty.HC was of the view that the condition for depositing one’s passport must be supported by specific material that points to a genuine flight risk. “It must be acknowledged that passport is not merely a travel document, but is often used as proof of nationality and identity. An order of deposit of passport as a pre-condition for bail is justifiable only on the basis of objective factors indicating a clear and imminent threat to the administration of justice, and must not be employed as a punitive measure against an undertrial accused, who is presumed innocent until proven guilty,” the bench of Justice Sumeet Goel held while deciding a criminal revision petition filed by Ram Lubhaya and others, who challenged a Nov 22, 2019, order of the additional sessions judge, Jalandhar.. HC was also of the view that it is not desirable to lay down any “straitjacket formulation” in this regard. To do so would be to crystallise into a rigid definition a judicial discretion, which even the legitimate has, for the best of all reasons, left undetermined. “Any attempt in this regard would be, to say the least, a quixotic endeavour. Circumstantial flexibility, one additional or different fact, may make a sea of difference between conclusions in two cases. Such exercise would thus, indubitably, be dependent upon the factual matrix of the particular case which the court is seisin of, since every case has its own peculiar factual conspectus. Such judicial discretion, but of course, ought to be exercised in accordance with the principles of justice, equity, and good conscience,” the court held.While the Jalandhar sessions court had granted anticipatory bail to the petitioners in a criminal case, involving charges of causing hurt and wrongful confinement, it directed them to deposit their passports before the trial magistrate. In their plea before HC, the petitioners argued that they were summoned only for comparatively less severe offences and there was no material on record to show they were a flight risk. “The condition was arbitrary, excessive, and imposed without justification. Passports are essential identity and travel documents, and their seizure caused undue hardship,” the petitioners argued.After hearing the matter, HC set aside the condition requiring the petitioners to deposit their passports, holding it to be unsupported by facts.